


Perfect

by Larkin21



Category: Glee
Genre: Episode Tag, Friendship, Gen, Homophobic Slurs, no sexy times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-11
Updated: 2011-08-11
Packaged: 2018-09-17 03:56:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9303056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larkin21/pseuds/Larkin21
Summary: Originally published on fanfiction.net on August 11, 2011. Migrated here on Jan 12, 2017.Episode reaction to Prom Queen (S2xE20).This story follows Dave, Kurt, and Blaine after prom. Somehow I've managed to drag a few hours out over 15,000 words.This is a gen-fic. Klaine exists but that relationship is not the focus. Slight one-sided Kurtofsky with some tension between Dave and Blaine. Brief appearances by Santana and mentions of other characters but otherwise just the three boys.Rated teen over all for language. No sexy times. Just one Klaine kiss in chapter 3.





	1. Chapter 1

Kurt looked at Blaine as he danced with him. He had a look in his eyes like he got when he was performing. Kurt couldn't help but wonder if that's how he was getting through this entire thing. Blaine always looked so at home performing. That's the only way he could possibly have built up the courage to dance with him in what he could only be described as "hostile territory."

As the song ended and they went to pose for pictures, Kurt realized that Blaine was probably in show mode to a certain extent but there was something else going on. It could be any number of things but Kurt felt it was mostly that Blaine got to be the hero at this dance instead of the victim. And probably Blaine was faking some of his enthusiasm for Kurt's sake, in the hopes that Kurt would start to feed off of it. That's basically the same as show mode, though, right?

Not that it wasn't helping Kurt. His smile was geniune for their posed picture, just not as wide as Blaine's smile. The dance floor was easier for him than getting his picture taken. The camera made him even more aware of the tiara on his head. On the dance floor, he could just focus on dancing with Blaine. Using Blaine's positive energy to gain confidence and have a pretty amazing time, all things considered. He started to wonder if everyone had a show mode. Even Dave seemed more relaxed and comfortable in his own skin when he was on the dance floor earlier that night. Well, when he wasn't slow dancing with a girl or on the verge of outing himself to the entire school, that is.

There were only a few songs after he was crowned before the jazz band started packing up their equipment and Figgins and Coach Sylvester started herding everyone out of the gym. Thinking about Dave on the dance floor made Kurt start to worry about where the boy might have run off and what he might be doing all alone with his thoughts. Looking at the smile still on Blaine's face as they made their way to the less crowded back exit, Kurt couldn't help but feel enormous guilt weigh on his shoulders. Blaine must have noticed something because his smile left his face immediately and he put his hand to the inside of Kurt's elbow as they walked side by side.

"What's on your mind?" Blaine asked softly, his eyebrows pinched in and angled up. He didn't change his stride at all, though. Kurt appreciated that Blaine knew not to turn this into a _thing_ by making Kurt stop and talk about it but Kurt also knew that he wouldn't be able to leave that school yet.

"I need to find Santana," Kurt said with a pause before he continued more quietly. "So I can find Dave."

Blaine nodded and scanned the crowd, likely in search of a red dress and dark hair. He knew that Dave and Kurt had worked things out. Whenever Kurt recounted their most recent conversations or break-throughs, as the case may be, Blaine always told Kurt how proud he was of him. Given the opportunity, Kurt almost worried that Blaine would tell Dave how proud he was of him for apologizing to Kurt and making amends. He wasn't sure how that would go over with Dave. The fact is, Kurt has no idea if Dave hated Blaine as much as their two interactions would suggest or if Dave was just lashing out at Blaine in much the same way as he had lashed out at Kurt. Or somewhere in between. Either way, the idea of Dave and Blaine being in the same immediate space made Kurt's stomach tighten with worry.

"Listen, Blaine, I ..." Kurt didn't know how to finish his thought, though, and his feet stopped moving as his sentence trailed off. Blaine turned to Kurt, with another concerned look on his face.

"What is it?" Blaine closed the short distance between them and forced Kurt's attention just by ducking his head down and meeting Kurt's lowered eyes with his own.

Kurt couldn't help the small smile that pulled at his lips. Blaine was so earnest and he tried so hard to make things right. Even things that really didn't concern him. If something was worrying someone he cared about, Blaine worried too. Hell, he was even coming up with solutions for the McKinley football team for the championship and supporting them before he was even dating Kurt. Stuff like that still floored Kurt. He had only met one of the football players at that point. If one could call that confrontation on the outside stairwell a proper introduction. Unbidden, images that first meeting between Dave and Blaine flashed before his eyes.

_Dave's retreating form suddenly turning back around and quickly taking the steps two at a time, hands up and forcing Blaine roughly into the fence ..._

Right. Focus.

"I just worry how Dave will react, you know? I mean, it's bad enough I haven't looked for him until now." Kurt paused and fidgeted with his jacket pocket. Blaine just waited silently. "I'm just not sure you should be there when I find him ... at least not until I have a chance to assess everything."

Blaine pulled his lips in under his teeth, nodding slowly. "How about this ... we split up. You stay inside and check some places where he might be in here. I'll head outside and see if his car's still in the parking lot. Call Santana while you're looking, I'll call you after I scan the parking lot, ok?"

"That's perfect, Blaine. Thank you. And if you see him, just call me right away." Blaine snorted and nodded his head again. "Don't take it personally or anything, Blaine. I just don't know how Dave feels about you. You have to admit that you don't have a good history."

"Neither did the two of you," Blaine answered with a slightly condescending smile.

"Fair enough," Kurt responded, slowly nodding his head. He couldn't help feeling slightly annoyed at his boyfriend's desire to see the best possible outcome right now. After two nearly catastrophic meetings between the two of them and a particularly awful night for Dave, Blaine's quiet optimism bordered on insanity. With an impatient huff and no attempt to conceal his own condescension, Kurt continued, "And soon, we'll see if we can build a friendship for the two of you too, sweetheart. Priorities, though, ok? Right now, we need to focus on Dave and how he is."

Blaine nodded seriously and gave Kurt's hand a quick squeeze, perhaps tighter than necessary but Kurt appreciated the gesture anyway.

* * *

Kurt didn't wait to make sure that Blaine was on his way before he was scrolling through his contacts to look for Santana's phone number as he made his way towards the boys' locker room. He mentally started composing a list of other possible places where Dave could be but he really hoped the locker room would be the only place he'd have to check.

Feeling confident about his chances, he decided to put off calling Santana. There were a couple reasons why he'd rather not involve her. He wanted to tell himself that he didn't want to deal with her crazy in addition to Dave's problems. Sure, Santana had been nice enough after "Dancing Queen" but upon very little reflection, he knew that Santana probably didn't take the fiasco that was the prom queen announcement much better than anyone else. So he didn't want to hear her biting remarks as she would inevitably take out her misplaced jealousy on Kurt. He didn't want her fake compassion when she undercut her offer to ramp up Bully Whip protection with snide comments about his gender-fucked fashion sense. Her words, not his.

To be honest, if only with himself, Kurt knew that he was worried about how contacting Santana could effect Dave. He knew next to nothing about their beard relationship. As far as he knew, the two couldn't stand each other and barely tolerated being in the other's company. Or they had developed a genuine friendship in which they supported each other as they took turns peeking through the cracked door of their closet. Kurt suspected it was neither extreme but he couldn't imagine a scenario in which it would be kosher to bring Santana, or anyone else, into whatever crisis Dave might be going through now. It was bad enough that Blaine was in on it. If Dave wanted Santana or anyone else around, great. But Kurt wasn't eager to send out invitations to Dave's misery. 

As Kurt pushed open the locker room door for the first time in months, he wondered at what point he became as protective of Dave as Dave had been of him through his service in the Bully Whips. Kurt didn't have much time to consider that train of thought, though, as he startled at the pitch dark locker room. Fumbling for a light before the door could swing shut and cut off all light sources, Kurt tried not to panic. Luckily, the switch was right where it should be but the presence of light did little to slow his adrenaline rush.

"Why didn't I consider how scary an empty locker room would be in the middle of the night?" he muttered to himself.

The belief that the locker room was indeed empty did not calm his fears. He held his phone tightly in one hand and with the other, he pulled his scepter from the makeshift holster on his kilt. He had been rather proud of himself at the time when he realized that one of the last minute details he'd added to his suit was the perfect place holder to rest the scepter elegantly on his hip. It would have provided him more comfort now if it hadn't been the perfect place for the delicate scepter but instead the heavy Scottish weapon Finn thought would have gone great with his outfit. It was better than nothing, though. As he heard random noises, from dripping faucets to a loud cricket chirping, Kurt fluctuated between picturing the opening scene of crappy horror films to wondering where the hell Dave could be. He spent as little time as he possibly could in the locker room, practically running for the door after checking to make sure that Dave wasn't hiding in the showers.

Taking a couple deep breaths with his back firmly against the lockers across from the locker room door, Kurt checked his phone for the time. 11:51. Probably less than an hour since Dave fled the gym and maybe 20 minutes after the band stopped playing. Kurt decided that since the first place he thought Dave would be turned out to be spectacularly incorrect, he should probably at least get in touch with Santana. As far as he knew, Dave was long gone. Scrolling back to her number again, he pressed send and huffed in annoyance when she didn't pick up and the call went to voicemail.

_"Santana. This is Kurt. Call me as soon as you get this message."_

Kurt hung up the phone, re-sheathed his scepter (though "sheath" wasn't really the most appropriate word for the tasteful buckle on the right hip of his kilt), and made his way toward the next place on his mental list: his French classroom. Admittedly, he felt rather arrogant to have that place on his list. After all, the locker room had more significance to Dave than just that one moment with Kurt. The French room, though, was all about Kurt. Dave didn't even take French. Kurt tried to rationalize that it was close to the boys' locker room. He'd pass his French room almost wherever he went after leaving the locker room.

Kurt wasn't surprised at all to find the room locked so he moved onto the choir room. There was little reason to honestly believe that Dave might have gone there to escape either. When he saw from a distance that the door was open and a light on, he started to wonder if maybe one week in Glee a couple months ago had made Dave come to see the choir room as the safe place that Kurt and other Glee club members saw it as.

Sadly, the choir room was completely empty. Whoever was in there last had just left the light on and the door open, perhaps expecting to come back or for someone else to use it before the night was over. As Kurt debated in his head whether he should go across the hall to the auditorium or down the hall towards the cafeteria, his phone rang. Santana.

"Good evening, Miss Lopez," Kurt answered, aiming for calm and confident.

"Hey baby. Was screening calls earlier but since you sounded like someone had pored cold water down your panties in that message, I thought I'd find out what's up."

"Classy, Santana. And my panties are fine. Just wondering if you and Dave were heading to Puckerman's after party."

" _Me and Dave_ , uh? You always play it so cool, don't you, Princess? Or should I address you as Your Majesty the Queen now?"

"I would say neither but I know it's no use. Anyway, what are you two up to?" Kurt was working hard to keep his growing impatience out of his voice but Santana's attitude wasn't helping.

"'Us two' aren't up to anything. Far as I know, that bitch is still at the school. He put his keys in my purse as soon as we got to prom. When I called from his car telling him that I was leaving, with or without him, and that he better get his royal ass to the parking lot, he told me to fuck off and that he'd pick his car up from me before morning. Not a bad idea, really. Anyone sees his car at my house will think we're fucking. He really has proven to be a good beard. If not a shitty running mate."

"So you took his car and just went home? How was Dave supposed to get home?"

"What do I care, Your Highness? All I know is he was still at the school when I called him because I could hear the band playing that pansy ass last slow song on his end of the line. He'll probably just walk home after he's finished crying his eyes out and everyone else is long gone. That is, unless you go back and rescue your king from his own tears."

"Good night, Santana."

"Sleep tight, Your Excellency."

Kurt actually snorted at that one before he ended the call. Suddenly, full-blown panic hit him. Blaine was supposed to go to the parking lot to look for Dave's car and call as soon as he finished checking the parking lot. If Dave's car was gone, and had been since before they left the gym, why the hell hadn't Blaine called him yet? Shit, why did Kurt think it was such a perfect fucking idea for them to separate?


	2. Chapter 2

Even after the heavy gym door shut behind him, Dave could still hear the Abba song, although now just slightly muffled. Feeling overwhelmed by guilt, panic, and fear, he allowed himself a moment to wonder if Kurt would be impressed that he knew that was an Abba cover. Thinking of Kurt, though, was all it took for his anger to override all thought. Emotion boiling over, he kicked the locker across the hall and immediately cursed his own stupidity. Probably broke his damn toe.

Looking to his right, he saw a couple he didn't recognize heading back into the gym. The girl looked a little scared but her date seemed to think his outburst was hilarious.

"Fucking fag!" Dave yelled as he violently threw his scepter against the opposite row of lockers, scattering it on contact. The boy stopped laughing immediately. They both probably thought Dave was pissed at the boyfriend for laughing. Or later they would hear that Kurt actually expected a dance and they’d assume the entire outburst was directed at the newly crowned prom queen. Dave turned away from the couple but out the corner of his eye, he saw the girl wretch the door open and her date followed her quickly away.

Not thirty seconds after they left, the door opened again allowing that terrible song out, as well as cheers from everyone inside. Dave felt like his heart had stopped beating, that is until a small group of girls burst through the door, looking like they were headed for the bathroom. He let out an aggravated breath but in reality, it he was relieved it wasn't anyone he knew. 

Trying to calm himself down, Dave started to wonder where the hell he would go now. Clearly, hanging out in the hallway wouldn't do. He started to feel light headed as he considered his options. Santana had his keys but no way in hell was he showing his face in there again.

He felt his panic rise up again and he mindlessly took a step in one direction but immediately turned around at the sound of footsteps coming from that corridor. The group of giggling girls had gone towards the bathroom down the hall to the left so he turned away from that direction as well. He was seriously getting dizzy. He felt himself sweating and his heartbeat was just getting faster and faster. As he heard the gym door open yet again, Dave decided that he couldn't wait to see who might come out that time. He turned again and fled down the shortest hall that ended with double doors and a red exit sign. 

As soon as the cool night air hit his face, he immediately started to feel better. He grabbed for his tie and yanked it open before doubling over and resting his hands on his knees as he tried to control his breathing. Just when he thought he had staved off a panic attack, Dave felt something slipping forward on his head. He stilled and felt like his heart had stopped, only to jump start again double-time as his crown clanged loudly on the concrete sidewalk. Dave jumped back violently and hit his head against the brick wall of the school. The sensation of the crown sliding almost scared him more than anything but he quickly felt like an idiot to have forgotten it was there. 

He started laughing quietly as he reached down for the crown, feeling incredibly silly about his overreaction. He wondered what he must have looked like, leaning over until the crown fell ... scaring the shit out of himself to the point that he banged his head against a brick wall. Slowly, he started laughing harder. It must have been pretty hilarious to see. There was probably a camera that caught it too, since the school had cameras by most of the exits and entrances. He was full-on belly-laughing as he imagined some custodians or maybe Principal Figgins seeing the video of his little freak out. 

Soon, he felt tears coming down his face and before he knew it, his belly-laugh transitioned into sobs and he slid down against the wall, the brick painfully catching his back through all the layers of his suit. His ass met the sidewalk before his body was ready for it and he snorted a half-laugh as he added bruised tailbone to the growing list of minor injuries in the last 10 minutes. He brought his hand up towards his forehead and was surprised to see how much it was shaking. He glanced around has he rubbed at his brow, hiding his face from no one in particular. Except maybe a camera. 

Well, the back exit behind the gym was better than the hallway and better than the front exit which emptied out to the main parking lot but he knew this walkway would get a steady stream of traffic of people looking to avoid the bottleneck out front once prom let out. As he thought things out, his breathing became more controlled and the tears gradually slowed down. Alright, he could either find a more secluded place to wait out the night or he needed to leave the school grounds immediately. He didn't have anyone to call. His parents would wonder what the hell was wrong if he showed up before his 2am prom-curfew. In fact, they'd probably be surprised if he got home in time for curfew. So calling them wasn't an option, nor was walking home. In fact, walking anywhere wasn't going to happen. First, he was feeling pretty exhausted even though he had managed to stop crying. Second, he didn't want anyone to see him walking somewhere like a loser on top of everything else that had happened. He would just have to find a place to hole up until well after everyone had left.

Standing up and looking around, Dave immediately decided to head to the small alcove about 15 feet to the left of the exit. After all, most people coming out this exit would go to the right to take the shortest way to the front parking lot. There were a number of cars parked in the back lot but it was likely that all of those people would go straight across the drive between the school and the parking lot and never even glance to the left. The alcove had two steps up and a small landing leading to one heavy door, likely to a utility closet or boiler room. Dave had only ever seen the custodial staff go in or out of that door. And once Sandy Ryerson. Hopefully that old perv wouldn't be around tonight. 

As he sat with his back against the door and his feet stretched forward on the first step (and still well within the alcove therefore out of sight of people exiting the gym), Dave realized he could still hear the music playing. It sounded like Kurt's goth Asian friend was singing some Florence + The Machine song. He idly wondered if Kurt would sing anything. Or if Kurt had planned to sing but had had enough of the spotlight and decided against it. And if Kurt were to sing something, what would it be. All night long, Dave had half-way been hoping Kurt would sing and half-way dreaded the thought of watching him inevitably sing a sappy love song to his prep school boyfriend. 

He pulled out his phone to check the time. 11:22. That made sense. He knew they'd make the king and queen announcement late in the night. He imagined that things would be wrapping up soon. Another song or two before the last slow dance of the night. Dave listened as Figgins made an announcement after the goth chic's song. Something about last chance to get your picture taken. It was a short announcement and was soon replaced with an upbeat tempo and a girl's voice. 

He silently tapped his foot to the beat of "You Can't Hurry Love," a song he remembered his parents listening to on the oldies station growing up. He was pretty sure it was Quinn singing and he couldn't help but smile at how happy she sounded. Especially considering how pissed she had looked most of the night, first when Finn was thrown out and then when she ran off, having lost her crown to Kurt. It was odd to smile about this girl he hardly knew and didn't particularly like. She had always been a bitch to him. And until she joined Glee club and he started giving her and Finn shit, she had no reason to treat him like he was dirt. 

And yet, here he was. Feeling weird ... feeling some kind of peace ... at her happy voice, singing lyrics that always struck him as hopeful and yet a little desperate. He snorted as he felt his eyes sting. He tried to focus on the tempo instead of the words and was almost relieved when the song ended. That is until he heard the opening chords to that year's prom song. 

The entire class had voted on what their final song would be. Not too good for clichés, the junior class had picked "Wonderful Tonight." It had to be that wheelchair kid singing it. He was no Eric Clapton but Dave had to admit he was pretty damn good. He shut his eyes and, unbidden, visions of Kurt entered his head. He imagined this song being sung about him, picking out his clothes and styling his hair to perfection. Smiling sweetly, not knowing how beautiful he ... suddenly Dave's phone rang. Dave answered it quickly, not wanting his ring tone to draw attention in case anyone was outside.

"Yeah," he answered quickly, too drained to bother with an actual greeting.

"Dave, where the fuck are you?"

"Hanging out Lima's nonexistent gay bar, where the fuck are you?" He bit back sarcastically. Something about Santana sure brought out the sass in him.

"I'm getting the fuck out of here. Let's go, stud. I don't want to hear any more of that lame ass song. Even if it's just through your phone. Are you just skulking around outside the gym or something?"

"Go on, Santana," Dave said, ignoring her questions. He wiped his hand over his face, annoyed by how rough his voice sounded. "Just take my car home and I'll come get it later."

"Have you been _crying_ , homo?"

"Fuck off, dyke. Just take my car and park it outside your house. No reason to let the beard thing slide now, right?"

"It's a good thing I like your plan, asshole, or I'd have your balls for the dyke thing."

"Whatever. I'll get my car from your house before morning."

He hung up without waiting for her response. Before the song was over, his phone buzzed again and he looked down at his new text.

_Hang up on me again & im dumping ur ass. Keys will b n mailbox. Kisses and dry humps <3_

He cracked half a smile. That girl was so weird. Pissed him off most of the time but he had to admit that life as her beard had been a lot better than life as Kurt's tormenter. Or that bizarre stretch of time between the two lives when Dave was trying to figure his own shit out while yo-yo'ing between actively getting his grades back up and numbly continuing his life as a delinquent, with the football team's encouragement.

Lost in his own thoughts, Dave hadn't even noticed the music ending. Suddenly, the loud bang of the double doors hitting the brick pulled Dave back to the moment. He sat up straight and pulled his legs in even though he was sure no one would be able to see them unless they walked past the alcove. He accidentally kicked his crown where he had left it on the middle step, right below where his ass was resting on the landing. He sat tense as he heard the steady stream of students leaving, every once in a while the doors would shut loudly, only to open quickly again as a another group made their way towards the parking lot. If anyone had heard the loud clang of his crown, they weren't interested in investigating it.

After about 5 minutes of listening to people leaving, Dave heard footsteps coming his direction. He nervously scooted into the corner a little more, hoping whoever it was wouldn't see him. The footsteps were slow and unsure and Dave watched as a compact figure came into view, starting towards the parking lot across the way, at an angle that would lead him towards the back end of the lot. The guy was looking around nervously and Dave caught his profile in the light. 

Pretty Boy. Of course. Suddenly, Dave's phone buzzed with a text and Dave swore quietly under his breath, eyes closing with annoyance. He quickly looked back up at the boy in front of him, though, and he knew that Blaine had caught sight of him. He had stopped walking and was slowly pulling his own phone out, almost like he was scared to make any sudden movements so as to not spook Dave. Or maybe he thought Dave couldn't see him if he couldn't detect movement. Whatever it was, Dave decided to give up on hiding, especially since it looked like the kid was calling reinforcements. 

"Alright, man, you know I know you saw me. Stop pretending like you don't know I'm here."

Blaine twisted his body all the way around to face him, a huge, charming smile on his lips.

"Hey Dave! I was actually looking for you."

Dave felt his like his stomach had dropped out. That kid bugged the shit out of him but damn if his good-looks weren't alluring and intimidating all at once. He refused to break eye contact, though, and was pleased to see Blaine's confident smile twitch nervously. _Ah, a chink in his shiny armor,_ Dave thought with a smirk.

* * *

Blaine hesitated and turned back to watch Kurt set off in search of Dave, already scrolling through his contacts. He only allowed himself a few seconds to feel nervous before he set off towards the exit again, going through the double doors with another group of students. A couple of them sidestepped away from him as soon as they recognized him. Queen Kurt's date. Don't want to catch the gay. Without thinking, he took the opposite direction that the group went once he was clear of the exit but he quickly faltered. Walking slowly, he took in his surroundings and realized that the auxiliary parking lot did have some cars in it. Best to pass through it first before going out front. He still walked slowly, mindful of his surroundings and trying to keep his nerves at bay.

Just as he was about to step off the sidewalk heading towards the back end of the parking lot, he heard a loud, short buzz behind him. Jumping slightly, as he heard a mumbled but forceful "Fuck," he whipped his head around to see Dave Karofsky huddled in the corner of an alcove not far from the school's back exit. Blaine slowly turned his head away and reached for his phone.

_Text Kurt, stay quiet. Stay quiet and ... just wait until Kurt shows up?_

That seemed like a terrible (and incredibly awkward) idea. Just has he decided that he should at least get out of Dave's line of sight while he finished his text (and ... waited for Kurt to show up) Dave's voice interrupted his plans.

"Alright, man, you know I know you saw me," Dave called out, voice loud and gruff. "Stop pretending like you don't know I'm here."

Blaine hadn't known that but he'd play along. Steeling himself and affixing a confident smile, he turned quickly and took a step towards the alcove. 

"Hey Dave! I was actually looking for you."

Dave grimaced slightly but kept his eyes locked with Blaine's. It was more than a little intimidating and Blaine had to force his smile to stay in place. Suddenly, Dave's lips turned up into a creepy little smile and Blaine fought down an urge to make a run for it.

"Oh yeah, Pretty Boy? That why you were acting like I wasn't here while you franticly called Kurt to save you from his big, bad bully?"

Blaine laughed. For some reason, Dave wasn't as scary when he was clearly _trying_ to be scary. Especially since a quick glance was enough for Blaine to know that Dave had been crying. His tie was hanging loose around his neck, his hair was a mess, and his suit was incredibly rumpled. The vulnerability Blaine saw in him was more than enough to take the edge out of the leer Dave had forced onto his face.

"No, actually," Blaine responded easily as he sauntered over towards Dave, noting that the other boy's smirk was already fading away. "I had specific instructions from Kurt if I found you."

"Oh yeah?" Dave sounded surprised and genuinely interested. "He really sent you off to look for me?"

"Well, he's looking too," Blaine said as he sat down a couple feet to Dave's left. "And he was worried about me just ... being near you. Almost as much as he was worried about _you_ in general. I should really call him."

"What the fuck was he so worried about?" Dave asked angrily before Blaine even had the chance to unlock his phone again. Blaine was startled by the sudden mood change. First he seemed flattered that someone would care and now he sounded insulted by it.

"Well..." Blaine started slowly, considering his words. "Kurt knows how scary that whole king/queen thing must have been for you too and-"

"That's not what I'm fucking talking about," Dave interrupted. "But for the record, if he knew how 'scary it must have been,'" Dave mocked in a sing-song voice, "then why the fuck did he tell me I should come out to the whole damn school right when we were about to dance to that stupid Abba song?"

Dave watched Blaine's face and snorted after a beat, causing Blaine to realize he was gaping at him.

"I didn't know," he responded quietly. Dave snorted again and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Blaine reached out for his shoulder on impulse, ignoring the way Dave startled slightly. "Listen, I'm not excusing what he did but you got to think about it from his perspective too."

Blaine felt a little defensive of Kurt but he paused to take in Dave's ever changing expression. Now he seemed calm and considering so Blaine continued. "Kurt was freaking out. I've never seen him that upset. Not even -"

This time it was Blaine interrupting himself as he suddenly stopped talking, mouth hanging open again as he slowly dropped his hand off Dave's shoulder.

"Not even when he told you about how I'd kissed him?" Dave supplied with a raised eyebrow, though not turning to look at him and hardly even inflecting much of a questioning tone.

Blaine leaned forward like Dave and nodded, knowing Dave could see him in his periphery now. He continued after a quiet moment, happy that Dave was allowing the side-step. "He ... there's no way he was trying to hurt you, Dave. You gotta know that. After everything you guys have been through and how great you've been ever since he's been back. Kurt was just wrapped up in his own head. It was like ... he didn't have control over what was happening to him or something. So ... I guess he had to turn his attention away from his own problems, you know?"

"'How great I've been?'" Dave sounded part-unconvinced and part-amused. "Is there anything he doesn't tell you?"

Blaine smiled softly and shook his head. "Not much. No."

Dave let out a long sigh and ran his right hand through his hair, turning to look at Blaine but not saying anything.

"Hm?" Blaine asked, not wanting to push but knowing that Dave was hesitating about something.

Dave dropped his hand from his hair again and shook his head. "It just ... feels weird to think about the two of you talking about me and my little crisis."

"Don't minimize what you're going through, Dave. All the work you've put in to being a better person and figuring out who you are."

Dave pushed back off his elbows and sat up straight against the door, shaking his head more vigorously as he listened to Blaine.

"No, really, Dave. When I think about what you were like the first time I met you to now? It wasn't even all that long ago ..."

"Don't talk about me like I'm some project," Dave gritted out, his foot tapping nervously and his hands jammed in his suit pockets.

"Please." Blaine huffed in annoyance, keeping his eyes forward as he watched a boy helping his girlfriend into a car across the way. "Just because a couple of people care about you and recognize how you've changed for the better doesn't mean they only see a 'project.' Give us a little credit, Dave. Besides ... we haven't even gotten to the make-over portion of your ceremonial coming out extravaganza."

Blaine actually held his breath, waiting for Dave's reaction. He almost flinched when he felt an elbow knock into his bicep, pushing his own elbow off his knee and making his upper body lean further forward, off balance for a second. He laughed, turning back to Dave and he felt his own smile widen as he saw Dave's slightly amused expression. He pushed him back playfully and Dave just shook his head with a little laugh as the push had hardly jostled him, even with little to anchor him since his hands were still in his pockets.

"So why was he worried about you being near me, Blaine? Afraid I was going to rip your head off in a jealous rage or that I'd try to steal you away from him?"

"Well, considering the fact that until this very moment, we both were fairly sure you thought my name was Pretty Boy or Butt Boy or something similar... " Blaine paused to look back at Dave again and was happy to see that he was smiling. He shifted so that he was facing Dave, his back against the short wall perpendicular to the door Dave leaned against, before he continued. "I'm sure part of him was worried about me getting my ass kicked since you backed me into a fence the first time we met and I actually instigated the physical fighting the second time we met."

"Yeah, what the fuck were you thinking?"

Blaine laughed, longer than really necessary to the point where he decided he didn't really need to answer. Dave was still resting his back against the door but his head was turned toward Blaine like he was waiting for something. Blaine sighed, remembering that there was a real question that he hadn't answered yet.

"Well, not to be repetitive but Kurt does care about you and I think ... more than he was worried about my own bodily harm, he was worried about me upsetting you more than he had already upset you. Of course, he didn't say as much but I'd put money on that over any concern for you trying to steal me away."

Dave nodded at the reason but didn't even crack a smile at Blaine's joke. Blaine frowned but decided not to push anything. Suddenly, he remembered Kurt. How he could have forgotten when he was all they had talked about, Blaine wasn't sure, but he realized that he really needed to call Kurt. He pulled his phone out and unlocked it. Dave groaned at the sound of the phone's beep.

"I do not want to fucking see him."

Blaine hesitated, surprised by Dave's tone. He sounded like he knew seeing Kurt was inevitable but like that knowledge wasn't going to keep him from complaining about it.

"Dave, I understand why you're pissed but I thought you und-"

"I'm not pissed. I'm just not in the mood to deal with him."

"It's sometimes easier to be around someone you can hardly tolerate than someone you really care about, isn't it?" Blaine's hands stilled where they were about to punch in Kurt's speed dial. For all the good he'd done so far, he still managed to put his foot in his mouth. Dave stared him down, brows knitted together in anger.

"Oh fuck you, Pretty Boy," he spat. "You had to go there, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't. I'm really sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. Just got too comfortable with you, I guess."

Dave grumbled something under his breath but Blaine watched his facial expression relax and he was about to tell Dave just why he had to call Kurt when Dave's quiet voice spoke more clearly. 

"It's not that I can hardly tolerate you," Dave started, his voice gaining more confidence as he continued. "It's that you're this perfect fucking knight in shining armor. I work my ass off to get a crown from a bunch of people who would hate me if they knew the truth." Dave picked up said crown and held it tightly, not missing a beat as he continued his tirade. "You get Kurt without even trying. Ready to swoop in whenever he's hurt. Fuck, even when you're scared you're still this annoyingly charming little shit!"

Dave looked ready to either throw the crown (possibly at Blaine) or gouge the points into his own eyes or something. Blaine reached over and stilled Dave's hands with his own. Dave's breathing was ragged as he looked at Blaine, who just held his gaze with a patient and calm expression.

"See what I fucking mean," Dave said, pulling his hands away and putting the crown down between them. "Annoyingly charming little shit," he repeated with less venom this time.

"That might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, David," Blaine said, leaning back against the door with a small smile on his lips. Dave looked a little angry beside him so Blaine decided to change the subject. "You know, you're a pretty amazing dancer. Tearing it up with Thriller and then tonight to all the fast songs."

Dave still looked mad. "I wasn't trying to compliment you, asshole. And even if I was, I wasn't expecting you to lie to return the favor."

"Sometimes inadvertent compliments are the best kind," Blaine answered with an air of haughtiness. "And besides, I wasn't lying or trying to return a favor. I was trying to make a point to what you said earlier about how people would hate you if they knew the truth."

Dave stared at him blankly and Blaine continued without prompting. "Some people might hate you because you're gay but not everyone. You know that the kids in glee wouldn't hate you for that. If you can show them the person you've shown Kurt and me, they wouldn't hate you at all. You're definitely a good enough dancer to join New Directions. Can you sing?"

Dave took a deep breath and turned his head away from Blaine. "I'm not joining fucking glee club."

"But think about it, Dave," Blaine began but was interrupted by his phone starting ringing. He picked it up quickly and saw Kurt's smiling face looking up at him on the screen.

"Kurt, I was just ab-"

"Blaine, thank god! Where are you? Are you ok?"

"Yeah, Kurt, calm down. Everything's fine. Dave and I were just about to call you."

"You and Da... you found him? And you're both alright?"

"We're great. Dave keeps threatening to steal me away from you but - OW!" Blaine smiled at Dave, enough though the punch to his thigh hurt like hell. Kurt, though, seemed unconcerned by the exchange.

"The two of you are actually joking around? Blaine, you should have called! I just suffered a short, _but very severe_ , panic attack."

"I'm really sorry, Kurt."

Kurt huffed but there was a smile in his voice when he responded. "Well, we'll talk about that more later. Where are you?"

"Um, just outside the back exit. There's this little alcove-"

"I know exactly where you're talking about. I'll be there in a second."

"You trying to get me back on Kurt's bad side or something?" Dave asked as soon as Blaine ended the call.

"Come on, it'll take more than that to get Kurt mad at you. He's more pissed at me for not calling than any implication of you hitting on me. Literally or figuratively. By the way, brace yourself. He'll be here any second."

"Yeah, it's fine," Dave answered calmly. Without even looking at him, though, Blaine could easily feel the tension radiating through the boy about a foot to his right.

* * *

Dave sat quietly, trying calm his breathing and slow his heart rate as Blaine stood and stepped down onto the sidewalk. Dave started to tense even more until he realized that he hadn't heard anyone coming out the exit for a while now. The back parking lot was long since empty and he imagined the front lot basically was as well. Blaine was bouncing on the balls of his feet as he faced towards the back exit.

"What the hell are you so nervous about?"

Blaine stilled and looked slightly abashed. "Sorry, I didn't even realize I was doing it."

It looked like he might have said more but the sound of one of the double doors opening stopped him. Dave immediately stood and stepped out from his hiding place for the first time in almost an hour. As Kurt came around the door, pushing it shut behind him, Dave felt a stab of guilt for making him worry for the past 20 minutes that he and Blaine had been talking in the alcove. The guy looked panicked but also relieved as his eyes darted back and forth between Dave and Blaine. Dave pushed his hands in his pockets to stop himself from fidgeting with them too much. He had no idea what to say and was nervous about what either of the other two boys might say. They were both acting like this was some huge deal and while Dave was freaked out, he wasn't sure why they were. He was almost worried that Kurt was going to go running into Blaine's arms, looking for comfort after such a stressful night. Shit, he hadn't been in the presence of the two boyfriends for even a minute and he already felt like a fucking third wheel. Kurt immediately focused his attention on Dave, which did help to alleviate his third-wheel-syndrome but did little to calm the butterflies in his stomach. 

"Dave, I'm really sorry. For everything. Tonight has been-"

Dave flicked his eyes over towards Blaine, unable to maintain eye contact while Kurt looked at him so intently and sincerely. The flicker was enough to make Kurt stop mid-stream. It was awkward and Dave hated himself for not knowing how to be normal right then. He also hated Kurt a little for being so damn sensitive to Dave's mood. It was just making everything more awkward, as they all stood in silence, knowing how uncomfortable they all were. 

Dave could only guess what Kurt had surmised from that one little flicker but he was pretty sure it helped to reinforce whatever notion Kurt had that Dave hated Blaine or was jealous or had some other negative feelings towards him. It wasn't that Dave liked Blaine. And Dave was definitely jealous of the kid. But it wasn't the big deal that Kurt, and maybe Blaine too, seemed to think it was. Especially now that he had spent a little bit of time with the guy. Now, it was just weird to be around both of them. Knowing that they thought they had Dave figured out, that they thought he needed their help. Dave knew he needed their help but having it out there, knowing that they talked about him. It made Dave incredibly self-conscience. Especially with everything else that had happened.

They couldn't have been standing there long, Dave mentally freaking out and Kurt idly tapping his fingers on the scepter at his hip like he wished it could magically fix everything, before Blaine spoke up.

"Why don't I go get the car, Kurt," he suggested helpfully in that rich kid tone Dave had come to associate him using when he was trying to fix something, to smooth out some wrinkles. Kurt, though, did not look smoothed. In fact, he looked even more panicked than he had before. Great, back to not wanting to be alone with Dave.

"Blaine, no, you don't have to. Let's not sep-"

"Kurt, it's fine," Blaine interrupted soothingly. "I can walk back through the school and across the parking lot. Everyone's probably gone anyway. I'll be fine."

"Then let's all go," Kurt answered immediately.

Dave actually took a step back at the suggestion, not wanting to go out front until he was certain no one was there. Especially not with Blaine and Kurt. He couldn't handle that kind of pressure right now. Dave didn't miss the knowing look Blaine gave him before he shook his head at Kurt.

"Honestly, it'll be fine. I'll be right back."

Blaine squeezed Kurt's wrist as he walked past him and back to the double doors to cut through the school. Dave didn't understand that entire exchange but he didn't feel quite as much like Kurt was terrified to be alone with him. He let out a calming breathe as Kurt gave him a weak smile. Dave was surprised that the smile actually relaxed him but it did, if only a little.

"I'm genuinely sorry, David. There are a lot of things for me to be sorry for but -"

"Kurt, it's no big deal. You never need to apologize to me." Dave knew it had only been ten or fifteen minutes ago that he had bitched to Blaine about Kurt but now face to face with him, he couldn't be angry. He could only feel lucky that Kurt had ever accepted his apology. That and the same guilt that had consumed him when he admitted to Kurt that he wasn't brave enough to come out at his junior prom.

"David, please let me finish." Kurt's eyes pled with him and Dave had to look away before he gave a short nod for Kurt to continue. "I was completely out of line pushing you to come out. I don't know what I was thinking. Temporary insanity is no excuse, though, so I'm really, very sorry."

Dave snorted at the insanity line and was about to answer but Kurt cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"I'm not finished. I don't know what the last hour, hour and half has been like for you. I'm so sorry you had to face it alone. It shouldn't have to be that way."

"Kurt, wait," Dave interrupted forcefully. "I understand you have more to say but before you go down _that_ particular road ... you are not responsible for getting me through anything."

"Responsible?" Kurt looked indignant. "First of all, I'm sure there were other factors at play but don't try to tell me that my pressuring you in there didn't push you over the edge. So yes, I do feel responsible _in this instance_ in particular. Second of all, I refuse to turn my back an another member of the homosexual community. You can fight it all you want but your life will be a lot easier when you accept the fact that you are, at the very least, a member of the LGBT community, even if you're not sure if you're 100% gay. We have a _responsibility_ to help each other out. Finally, you and I might not be 'friends' in the traditional sense of the word but I'd like to think we have a certain understanding of one another. This is something I can help you with, this ...," Kurt was struggling to find the words but his gaze didn't falter. And Dave couldn't look away if he wanted to. "This is me trying to be your friend now. So screw responsibility. I _want_ to help you get through all of this."

Kurt's eyes burned a second longer but then instantly softened. Dave tore his own eyes away from the boy in front of him. He couldn't believe he was feeling that familiar sting again. Again in front of Kurt. Again tonight. He saw Kurt moving towards him out the corner of his eye and he inhaled a shuddering breathe and forced a small smile as he turned back towards him. Kurt looked frazzled and ashamed.

"Jesus, Dave. I'm so sorry. This is my idea of an apol-"

"No, Kurt. It was good. Um. Nice." Dave paused as he saw a pair of blurry headlights coming towards them. "I accept your apology, ok? I'm fine if you're fine."

Kurt smiled tightly but he didn't look convinced. Dave felt tears finally escape his eyes and he tried to wipe his face discretely as Kurt turned towards the car that was turning around beside them so that it was facing back towards the campus exit. Dave quickly got himself together and turned back to the car as Blaine stepped out. Dave felt his jaw literally drop at the sight before him.

"Holy shit, Blaine," he breathed out quietly. Kurt's whiplash at Dave's use of his boyfriend's given name did not go unnoticed but Dave was a lot more interested something other than Kurt for once. "You drive a fucking Bentley?"

"Oh God no," Dave stared incredulously at him as he walked around the front of the car. Only Blaine could make a Bentley sound like it was beneath him. Blaine seemed to pick up on Dave's assumption and quickly continued. "I mean I wish. But no. Sadly not."

He handed the keys to Kurt, who was looking at Dave with an amused and slightly haughty expression.

"This is your ... your car? Shit, Fancy really is a perfect name for you."

Kurt actually laughed at that. "No, it's not my car either. It's a loaner from one of my dad's customers. He knows me personally and trusts me with the car. He also made me promise free service to all his cars for the rest of my life if anything happens to her."

Dave let out a low whistle and started to walk slowly around the back of the dark grey car. It was an old model, probably from sometime in the fifties. Dave looked back to Kurt and Blaine. They shared matching small, contented smiles but Kurt was watching Dave while Blaine was admiring the car. 

"I don't know how either of you drive it. I'd be scared shitless."

"This is probably Dr. Martin's fifth favorite car. It would be a lot more pressure if he lent me his Lamborghini," Kurt answered with a shrug. His voice turned more wistful as he glanced at Blaine and continued, "Besides, it's worth it for a perfect evening."

Dave immediately felt awkward again. He was totally ruining their night. He definitely didn't want to think about what they would be doing if he weren't there (well, not too much at least) but he still felt a little guilty for preventing a romantic post-prom. Just when he was about to suggest that they just drop him off at Santana's so they could be alone, Blaine's phone chirped.

"Alright, boys," Blaine announced with forced cheer. "That's my curfew warning. Time to head your house, babe, so I can get home by 1:00."

Kurt immediately went around the long front end of the car and Dave reached for the back door behind the driver's seat where his inspection of the car had led him. He looked up at Blaine clearing his throat across the other side. Blaine had already opened the back door on the passenger side and he was looking significantly at Dave.

"You opening the door for me now, Pretty Boy?" Dave joked, immediately going around to Blaine's side on the assumption that they had shit in the seat behind Kurt and this was Blaine's polite way of asking him to sit on the other side. Blaine hesitated a second until Dave was practically to him before letting the back door close and taking a large side step to open the front door, making a huge sweeping motion with his right hand to present the front seat to Dave.

"Well, I am now. I don't know where my manners were."

Dave gaped at him and then turned to Kurt, who rolled his eyes at his boyfriend but also had a smile on his lips.

"Dude, I'm not sitting in the front seat." Blaine straightened from his grand sweeping motion but kept his charming smile firmly in place.

"Sure you are, Dave," he answered simply. "You guys'll drop me at my car at Kurt's and then Kurt will take you to get your car. No reason for you to have to switch seats between stops."

Dave glanced over at Kurt again, who was leaning over the car watching the exchange with mild interest. Dave turned so his body was blocking Kurt's line of sight to Blaine, and hopefully muffling what he was about to say to the guy.

"'No reason?' You're kidding me right," Dave asked quietly, with an edge of anger to his voice. Blaine just looked at him confused, with his eyebrows up and pinched in. "Sit in the front seat and hold your fucking boyfriend's hand," Dave gritted out angrily. Blaine's dumbfounded expression, his mouth shaped in a perfect small 'O' as his eyes staring off unfocused, almost made Dave laugh. Instead, he scoffed in annoyance at the kid's cluelessness.

"I don't care who sits up front," Kurt's voice rang through the night, breaking them both out of their frozen positions. "But someone better get in the front seat. I will not chauffeur the two of you like this is your date."

Blaine laughed but Dave actually felt his face reddening so he turned his head down and away as he moved to the back door. Suddenly Blaine reached in front of him and grabbed the door handle. Dave's eyebrows shot up. This kid was crazy, insisting on opening Dave's door. He then felt Blaine's other hand grab his wrist and Dave went completely still, caught off guard by the contact. His head whipped up to see Kurt ducking into the driver's seat before he turned back on Blaine. Blaine's earnest expression stopped him from saying anything though.

"Thank you, Dave. I just ... I don't think sometimes but you're absolutely right. And see? This is one small example of how ... very much ... I am _not_ a perfect knight in shining armor."

Dave just kept his eyebrows up and glanced back and forth between Blaine's face and Blaine's hand still on his wrist. Blaine gave him a half-smile and released his wrist before he pulled Dave's door open the rest of the way for him. Jesus, what had started off as a playful joke was annoying the crap out of Dave now.

The first thing Dave saw when he sat down as a crown sitting in the seat beside him. He gave himself half a second to hope it was Kurt's but when he glanced up the other boy was just taking his own crown off his head. Kurt twisted in his seat towards Dave with the crown and his scepter in his hand.

"Can I drop my tiara and scepter back there with you, Dave?" Of course Kurt called it a tiara. 

"Sure," Dave grunted as he took the two items from Kurt and placed them beside his own crown. "Who grabbed mine?"

"Oh, I didn't see your scepter but I noticed your crown still in the alcove when you were checking out the car." Blaine answered absently.

Dave just nodded and looked out the window. Blaine rolled down his own window and gushed over how much he loved vintage cars with crank handles instead of automatic windows.

"You got a fucking 1:00 am curfew, man? Your parents wouldn't extend it for you on prom night?" Dave asked loudly, interrupting Blaine's ode to all things vintage. He wasn't sure what triggered it but he felt himself getting more and more annoyed with Blaine again. 

"That might be partly my fault," Kurt answered and Dave noticed a dark blush high on his cheeks as they passed a streetlight.

"It's not your fault," Blaine demanded quickly as though they had had the conversation before. And then he turned all the way around to address Dave. "It's not Kurt's fault. You see, the last time I stayed out late with Kurt, I ended up staying over. I had gotten really drunk at Rachel's party and Kurt was DD. There was no way I could face my parents so he let me stay with him. Even though Kurt texted them from my phone to let them know I was staying with at his house, they were pissed. Of course, it didn't help that I was completely hung over when I got home the next day. And possibly even still a little drunk since I let it slip that Kurt and I slept in the same bed..."

Blaine had a little embarrassed smile as he finished his story but Dave couldn't believe it.

" _Your_ dad let your drunk boyfriend sleep with you?!" He directed at Kurt, who rolled his eyes but managed to stay calm.

"First of all, nothing happened," he started out dismissively. "People can sleep in the same bed without fooling around -"

"Especially when one of them immediately passes out," Blaine threw in with a self-deprecating laugh. 

"Second," Kurt continued without missing a beat. "We weren't dating at the time so nothing would have happened anyway."

"But I can understand our parents jumping to conclusions," Blaine defended. Kurt sputtered indignantly. "Hold on now. I do understand them jumping to conclusions but that doesn't mean I understand them not believing us when we told them the truth. Especially since I admitted to the drinking."

"Blaine, honey, you would have been an idiot to try to deny it."

"Fair point but why would I tell them I slept in your bed if I had something else to hide, right?" Blaine kept turning between Dave and Kurt and Dave started to get dizzy from it. "And anyway, that doesn't piss me off nearly as much as them deciding that you must be a bad influence. If they knew the drinkers that the Warblers are ..."

Dave had no idea who the Warblers were but he was tired of this conversation already. Blaine's parents were clearly stuck-up assholes who thought their perfect son had been led astray by the public school transfer. Another thing to be jealous of the kid for. Blaine had no idea what it was like for a parent to assume anything but the best of him, much less to take another kid's side in an argument. Of course, Dave's dad had been right to take Kurt's side but still. It hurt. 

And it pissed him off that Blaine's parents assumed that Kurt was corrupting their kid when it was clearly the other way around. He had to give Prince Charming credit for trying to set his parents straight but he probably was so charismatic about it that they couldn't pay attention to his protests that Kurt was the good influence in the relationship. 

If he were being completely honest with himself, he was also irrationally pissed at the idea of those two sleeping together. No matter how innocent it really was in terms of sexual activity. It was still an intimacy that made him jealous. And in terms of sex, the news that "nothing happened" that night didn't really make Dave feel better since Kurt went on to say it was before they started dating. Who knew what they had gotten up to now that they were together. 

"So Dave, have you thought about where you're going to put your crown?" Blaine asked, clearly wanting to fill in the silence that had ensued.

"Blaine, it's not an Academy Award. It's not like Prom Kings proudly display their crowns on their mantel as a conversation piece." Kurt sounded a little annoyed with Blaine now too. It was a pretty stupid question. Dave wished he had shattered the crown against the lockers just like he had his scepter.

"Some might. Dave might."

"No fucking way, dude. I don't even want that piece of shit."

Kurt sat quietly and Blaine looked back and forth between the two other boys a couple of times before turning to Dave again and speaking softly.

"You worked hard for that."

Dave's mouth opened and shut again quickly. For a smart kid, Blaine sure was fucking dense. God, why did he have to push him like this?

"I worked hard to be normal! And what happens every time I feel like I'm not only just like everyone else but I'm the _best_ of everyone else? I have to be reminded that I'm fucking gay! We win the State Championship but I had to realize how much I love singing and dancing to even be able to play in the damn game. I was voted most popular guy and I'm given a crown and next thing I know, everyone has paired me off with Hummel. I don't want it, damn it! I just want to be normal!"

"There's nothing abnormal about being gay, Dave!"

"Great, perfect for you and Fancy to keep telling me that, Pretty Boy. But the rest of the world thinks different. You think this crown is so special? Fucking take it. The queen's boyfriend should be king anyway."

"If that crown is a symbol of what you call 'normal,' I don't want it. I don't like your definition of normal. Keep hiding in your closet with your crown for all I care."

Kurt suddenly slammed on the brakes and rounded on the two of them.

"Will you two grow up! It's a fucking piece of plastic. And the irony is that neither of you want it for the exact opposite reasons. One of you doesn't want it because it reminds him that he wants to be my boyfriend and the other doesn't want it because he's afraid it will take his homosexuality away from him. It's insane! So just split the difference, Mean Girls that piece of plastic, and share nice like two good little boys!"

Despite the seriousness of it and how scary Kurt managed to be, Dave couldn't help but think about when Kurt had last gone off like that. And how he still looked just as beautiful tonight as he had that time. Now that he was done, Dave just looked at his hands and willed someone else to break the silence. Almost immediately, Kurt let off the break and continued driving slowly down the street again.

"I'm sorry but ... weren't you two getting along fine ... like minutes ago? What the hell was that?"

"I'm really tired," Dave answered lamely, without even thinking. Blaine and Kurt both laughed despite themselves and didn't press for anything else. After a beat, Blaine turned back to Dave again.

"I'm sorry, Dave." Dave started rolling his eyes immediately but he stopped when he caught Kurt's stern expression in the rear view. He quickly looked back to Blaine, not wanting to piss Kurt off again. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't mean any of it but I didn't mean to be such a jerk about it. I know, we _all_ know how hard it is to feel like you don't fit in and like you can't really be yourself. And I meant what I said earlier too. You really have come a long way in a very short period of time." Blaine paused before continuing a little more of an edge to his voice, "I guess I also don't like being called abnormal or for my boyfriend to be called a queen."

"Dude, I wasn't trying to say that. Either of those things. And I'm sorry too." Dave let out a huge huff that actually made Kurt flinch. "I just feel like I'm caught between worlds or something. And I can't have all of either no matter what I do so I don't know what to choose."

Blaine looked at him sadly as Kurt pulled into the driveway of his house.

"You know," Blaine started cautiously. "Your sexuality isn't a choice. You can't help who you're attracted to."

"You think I haven't figured that out by now?" Dave felt himself start to get worked up again but calmed down as soon as Blaine slowly raised one hand in surrender. "I meant I couldn't choose between living the lie but keeping what I know. Keeping my friends and family and sports and cred at school. Or telling the truth but not having anything after it."

"Dave, it doesn't have to be like that. It's not all or nothing, one or the other. You can be out and still play sports and be you." Kurt told him softly.

"You don't know that and I can't take that risk. Not yet, anyway," Dave responded quietly but forcefully.

"Ok," Kurt agreed just as quietly. 

"You know I didn't have anything to do with that prom queen thing, right? You know I'd never do something like that, not anymore," Dave told him.

"Yeah, no, of course. I know you weren't responsible for anything that happened tonight." Just then, Blaine's alarm went off again. "Is it already 12:30? You better get moving, babe," Kurt said to Blaine as he reached for his own door. Dave and Blaine followed suit and Dave was momentarily surprised to practically be eye to eye with Blaine due to the incline in the driveway. Blaine reached his hand out for Dave to shake with a quirky little smile on his lips. Dave looked down at it for a moment and then back at Blaine. The charm thing knocked him off balance sometimes.

"I realize we might not have gotten to 'bro hug' status yet but I hope we're getting there," Blaine told Dave genuinely and Dave couldn't help but laugh as he shook Blaine's hand firmly but quickly.

"Yeah, so long as we don't kill each other next time we're together ... " Dave trailed off, unsure how to finish the thought. And then he surprised himself by clapping Blaine's shoulder as he passed him to get in the front seat while Kurt and Blaine said goodnight.


	3. Chapter 3

Kurt stood a few feet away, waiting by Blaine's car on the street just to the right of the driveway. Dave still seemed a little agitated but Blaine, on the other hand, was clearly trying to force down his own giddiness as he approached Kurt. Kurt linked his hands with Blaine's without even thinking about it. When he glanced back towards the Bentley, he saw Dave quickly avert his gaze back to the dash but with the car turned off and the fact that Blaine had rolled the front window down, Kurt knew he'd likely be able to hear their conversation. Turning back to Blaine's smiling eyes, Kurt sighed quietly.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that tonight definitely wasn't what either of us expected, was it?" Kurt joked, trying to keep his tone light for his and Blaine's sake as much as Dave's. He wanted to apologize to Blaine for how fucked up the entire night turned out to be but he felt like doing so in front of Dave would only make Dave feel guilty. After all, Dave didn't know Blaine's story and why tonight was just as hard on him as it was on Kurt and Dave. Dave didn't know that Blaine feared tonight and that some of those fears manifested themselves in surprising ways. Just as Kurt felt his heart tighten while he thought about his own prom proposal to Blaine, his boyfriend's words interrupted his thoughts.

"No, not what I expected but still perfect ... in a way." Blaine started to lean towards Kurt but Kurt just felt his eyes becoming unfocused as he leaned away ... _perfect_. What a terrible fucking word.

_"This is perfect. You couldn't face up to the bullies at your school so you can do it at mine. We can do it together."_

Kurt felt his stomach constrict.

_Dave's still on stage. This is perfect. He can come out and we can go through this torture together._

"Well, at least we both have a fucked up sense of what's perfect."

_"That's perfect, Blaine. Thank you..."_

_Blaine nodded seriously and gave Kurt's hand a quick squeeze, perhaps tighter than necessary ..._

Blaine searched Kurt's face, his own mouth open slightly and his brows pinched together in worried confusion.

Kurt, for his part, was again fighting back tears. Now that it occurred to him, he didn't want to drag Blaine into his guilt party. After all, Blaine shouldn't have to comfort him. Not since Kurt was the one who constantly pushed people into uncomfortable situations in the hopes of making his own discomfort more manageable. He didn’t want to pull Blaine into his discomfort now, further perpetuating the cycle. 

Except it was too late. Blaine knew something was wrong and while Kurt could lie on the spot in some situations, he couldn't when he was feeling emotional like this. So there was no tricking Blaine with a different answer or misdirection. Kurt just shook his head and bit back his tears as best he could.

"Kurt," Blaine started out slowly, still looking worried as he rubbed Kurt's forearms in a gesture that seemed to be an attempt to get his boyfriend to relax a little. Kurt felt some of the tension that had his posture so stiff slowly release. He continued to shake his head, though, and suddenly he fell forward. His shoulders shook as he rested his forehead on Blaine's right lapel and allowed his arms to drop to his sides uselessly.

"I'm so ... sorry."

_"I'm so freaking sorry, Kurt."_

Kurt hardly noticed the sound of the car door opening and two feet disturbing some loose gravel. Blaine stroked a hand over Kurt's hair and then dropped the hand to Kurt's chin to force his eyes up.

"Hey, you have nothing to be sorry about, Kurt. You weren't responsible for what happened tonight any more than Dave was responsible. And we've already established that he's not responsible at all, right?" 

Kurt let out a wet chuckle and nodded his head once before a sob escaped and the nod quickly turned into a shake again.

"No, but I am! I am responsible!" Kurt took a step back but his posture remained lax despite how worked up he clearly was again. "I kept talking and thinking about things being _perfect_. But I my only concern was it being perfect _for me_. Better for _me_."

Kurt took a shaky breath and was relieved to see Blaine just looking at him, allowing him to continue instead of interrupting him or trying to talk him down. Just like that moment in the hall after the queen announcement.

"I mean, I guilted you into coming to prom with me, talking about how _fucking perfect_ it would be." Kurt noticed Blaine flinch slightly at Kurt's rare use of curse words but he continued on just as strongly, gesturing with his hands as he got angrier with himself. "And god, I told you it would be _perfect_ if you'd go out in the parking lot by yourself after prom. I mean, shit, Blaine. I didn't even consider what that must have been like for you to even _offer_ , much less go through with it after I told you it was just _perfect_. Too wrapped up in my own guilt at leaving Dave for so long that I didn't even _think_ about what that parking lot might have been like for you."

Blaine smiled crookedly at Kurt and Kurt felt himself almost get angry at it. "It kinda was perfect, Kurt. Yeah, I was scared, especially when we were about to split up. I didn't like you being alone anymore than I liked the idea of me being alone. But your focus on Dave helped me. Priorities, remember?"

Dave snorted angrily and Kurt mentally cursed Blaine for both saying the exact right thing to Kurt while also saying the exact wrong thing in front of Dave. Kurt looked over to the boy leaning against the Bentley, with his arms over his chest. His head was turned away towards the back of the car and he looked pissed. Kurt couldn't help but to wonder if the entire conversation had pissed him off or just Blaine's words about Dave and priorities ... like Dave was some pity case. If Kurt were completely honest with himself, though, both he and Blaine were essentially treating Dave like a pity case. It wasn't fair to Dave but Kurt didn't know how else to be. And Blaine, not attuned to Dave like he was to Kurt, either didn't realize how he was treating Dave or didn't understand why it was a problem.

"Besides," Blaine continued, drawing Kurt's attention back. "All things considered, your search for perfection helped me face my demons."

"Fucking great, Blaine!" Kurt blew up again. Blaine actually shrank away from him imperceptibly. "You face your demons and I stand up to a bunch of assholes, and in the process, you know what I do? I tell Dave that it's the time to come out, in front of those hateful jerks who voted me prom queen. I was thinking how _perfect_ it was that Dave could share in my misery ... that they'd be staring at him instead of me. You know what that implies, Blaine? Come on, show off that expensive Dalton education and explain to the class the implications of my actions!"

"You didn't want them to hate me," Dave spoke up forcefully. Blaine must not have realized Dave had gotten out of the car because he whipped around quickly, causing him to stand beside Kurt instead of in front of him. Dave didn't react to the movement, though. His eyes were locked on Kurt's as though he was waiting for Kurt's reaction before he continued, "You might have wanted some of the attention away from you so turned to the massive target beside you but I know you didn't want them to hate me."

Dave and Kurt continued looking at each other, Kurt searching for any sign that Dave might just be trying to make him feel better. Kurt then felt Blaine's hand take his. As though the motion broke some kind of trance, Dave immediately looked away and got back into the car, slamming the door loudly behind him.

"You have to go," Kurt said, turning to Blaine and giving him a weak smile.

"You're still upset -"

"And you're late as it is," Kurt interrupted. "I'll be fine, really. But thank you Blaine. You've been amazing tonight. I wouldn't have gotten through this without you and I'm sorry for being such a fuck up."

"You're not a fuck up," Blaine told him seriously before he continued with a loving smile. "And honestly, I wouldn't have spent tonight any other way. I'm sorry you have regrets and I feel bad for what happened to Dave. But we're all going to make it through this, alright? Let's just ... try not to beat ourselves up, ok?"

"You're such an after-school special," Kurt answered with a scoff and roll of his eyes. Blaine only responded by leaning forward to kiss Kurt, pulling him into his arms for a moment. Kurt allowed himself to relax into the kiss as Blaine deepened it but as soon as their tongues met, Kurt pulled away. He put a hand on Blaine's chest to keep him from leaning in again, pushing back on him slightly. "Go on. I'll be fine. Seriously."

"Call me when you get home, ok?"

Kurt nodded, grateful that his boyfriend was allowing him to be the one to call even though Blaine was making the 30 minute drive home. It was refreshing that they both knew that Kurt might take longer with Dave than Blaine would take driving straight home.

"Goodnight, Dave," Blaine called, glancing briefly to the Bentley. Dave's only answer was a small nod and Blaine gave Kurt's hand one last squeeze before he turned to his own car. Kurt watched him adjust something on the radio and smiled as Blaine immediately started singing along before giving one last wave and driving off. Kurt stood there for a beat, not sure how to do what he needed to do next. Steeling himself, he turned towards Dave.

"Wait here," he muttered before moving on towards his house and jogging up the five stairs leading to his front porch.

* * *

"Sorry that took so long," Kurt said as he slid back in the driver's seat.

"No problem. Was he pissed?"

Kurt looked at Dave for a moment and considered lying to him but decided against it. "I didn't exactly tell him the entire truth."

"About which part? Giving me a ride home now? Or everything else that happened tonight?"

Kurt laughed despite himself. "Both, I guess. I'll tell him about prom queen later. And you too. I mean, not about you being gay," Kurt added hastily when he noticed Dave tense up. "I just mean about you and I being on good terms. Anything else is your business. But no, I didn't tell him about tonight. He and Carole were too worried about why Finn had been thrown out. I gave my limited version of it and then told Dad I was giving Santana's date a ride home."

"Uh, not bad, Fancy," Dave said, with a truly impressed look on his face that didn't quite match his nonchalant tone.

"Why thank you, David," Kurt responded with a smile, throwing his right arm over the back of Dave's seat as he turned over his shoulder to back the car out of his driveway. He noticed Dave eyeing his arm but decided not to comment. There were practical matters that Kurt wanted to address instead. "So, I understand if you don't want to talk about this ... or anything, really, but have you thought about school on Monday?"

Dave sighed and ran a hand through his hair as Kurt put the car in drive and pulled away from his house.

"I've thought about it. But I don't know, man. The easiest thing would be to just talk shit about you as soon as anyone gives me shit. But that feels pretty wrong."

Kurt just nodded thoughtfully, appreciative of the sentiment but not wanting to interrupt Dave's thought process.

"So maybe I'll just _punch_ the first person who says anything and I'll get suspended for the week and everyone will have gotten over it by the time I come back to school following week."

Dave sounded completely serious but when Kurt glanced over at him, he was pretty sure he could make out a playful smirk.

"Alright, I can't tell if you're joking or not but just in case you're not," Kurt started out slowly and continued with a wider smile after Dave let out a bark of a laugh, "I think you might need another plan. And while I'm really glad you don't want to talk shit about me, maybe there's a happy medium between that, punching someone in the face, and coming out? How would it go over if you just said something like you were worried Figgins would second guess the entire Bully Whips thing if you didn't dance with me? But in the end, you just couldn't bring yourself to do it?"

"Then they'd start giving me shit about Bully Whips again," Dave stated flatly. "But it's a good start. I'll be able to make something work out of that."

"Who's giving you shit about Bully Whips?"

Dave just looked at Kurt evenly. "I really don't want to talk about this anymore. I mean, I appreciate you trying to help but ..."

Dave looked back out his window, licking his lips nervously as he leaned deeply into the bench seat. Kurt waited but it was soon obvious that Dave wasn't going to explain further. As much as Kurt wanted to know what he was thinking, he also didn't want to push after he started the entire conversation telling Dave they didn't have to talk about it if he didn't want to talk about it.

"What time's your curfew?" He asked instead.

"Um, not until 2. I'll probably just drive around for a while and time it so I'm home a little after that."

"Good god, I can't believe I was even worried about you being able to come up with a response for school. You're so committed to your image that you'll needlessly break curfew to keep your parents from being suspicious?"

"Look, that has nothing to do with being gay and in the closet!" Dave's posture remained relaxed but he suddenly began speaking adamantly with his hands. "My parents are just always on my case about any little thing. Trying to psychoanalyze me or some shit. The more I can just stay off their radar and make it seem like I'm just a regular teenage guy, the easier my life is."

"Oh, Dave. There are so many ... first of all, please buckle your seatbelt. I get fined $30 for your negligence if I get pulled over."

"Why they fuck would you get pulled over?" Dave demanded but he was reaching for his seatbelt already. "You're a better driver than my dad and he hasn't gotten a ticket in like 30 years."

"Flattery will not get you out of the rest of this lecture, David," Kurt responded quickly. He did not miss Dave's exaggerated eye roll in is peripheral vision. "Second of all, I don't know how many pep talks Blaine tried to give you tonight. I know he doles them out like ... I can't even think of an appropriate analogy. He just really loves giving pep talks. But I'm going to force you through one more." Dave turned towards his window again, his arm propped up on the door and his head resting against his fist. Kurt idly wondered if this is how parents saw their teenagers 90% of the time: annoyed and just trying to get through it. He was glad that they were driving instead of having a face to face conversation. Hopefully their body language and limited eye contact would lessen some of the intensity to what he was about to say. 

"Do you realize that you've made numerous off-hand comments in the last 30 minutes or so acknowledging that you are in fact gay? That's a really big deal, Dave. Had you consciously admitted it to yourself before tonight?"

"Kinda," Dave said with a sigh. "I still. I mean, I know I'm gay. But I still have all this shit in my head. Like it's hard to reconcile me being gay and ... it's almost," Dave paused and just stared at his hands now in his lap.

"Dave?" Kurt asked but Dave continued inspecting his hands before he finally continued speaking after a beat.

"Did you ever have a moment when you were like 'holy shit, I'm in high school. But I feel like I should still be racing for the swings every morning.' Have you ever felt that way? Like you can't imagine yourself older than 10 years old? But even though you tell yourself that you are in high school, it still doesn't feel real and the idea of being allowed to drive or to stay out on a school night or any of that shit? It still feels like something you aren't old enough to do yet?"

Kurt tried to wrap his mind around the idea that Dave Karofsky could ever feel like anything other than a high school jock. Sure, until recently Dave was immature and childish but in a very high school _dude_ way, not in an actual little kid way. Kurt could hardly even remember Dave before he started bullying him in high school so even though Kurt knew exactly what he was talking about, it was hard for him to believe that Dave saw himself as anything other than the jock image he projected all the time. That thought alone, though, allowed Kurt to realize where Dave was going with this entire thing.

"So ... your being gay catches you off guard like that?"

"Yeah, man. I don't want you to take this like Blaine did. It's not a knock on you, or him. But I always thought of myself as being just like everyone else. I've always been into the same shit all my friends are into. Thing is, I did start noticing guys like ... a long time ago. But I didn't let myself dwell on it, ya know? So I don't know. I should have gotten used to it by now but I never let myself even consider it? And I definitely never said it out loud so you saying it like you did in Figgins office, ya know? It just felt like you were talking about some other guy. Like you were telling me that _I_ wasn't _me_."

"But you recognize that guy now? You're starting to see him as you?"

Kurt rolled to a stop and looked at Dave, in no hurry to proceed through the quiet intersection. Dave seemed oddly introspective but more than anything, just tired. 

"I have been trying to figure my shit out, Kurt. But I honestly hadn't given much thought to reconciling _normal_ me and _gay_ me. I mean, I've just said more to you about it than I've ever even thought about all this shit. At least, in this way, if that makes any sense at all. I guess you're right though. All the times I've referred to my being gay or that you or Blaine referred to me being gay tonight ... I never thought to correct anyone any of those times. Gotta be a good sign, right?"

"It's more than a good sign, Dave. It's a huge step. Even if you don't feel like you've been actively thinking about it, you've at least changed your thinking so that you can start to recognize yourself. And in less than a couple of weeks? That's amazing."

Dave awkwardly looked out the window and tapped his hand against his leg. Kurt decided to skip the rest of the lecture about how Dave should ease off on pushing his parents away and how he'd find life a lot better by staying out of trouble instead of going searching for it. He almost allowed himself to tell Dave once again that he needed to stop acting like 'normal' and 'gay' are mutually exclusive terms. He sighed a deep breath, thinking about how much further Dave still had to go. Maybe he'd bring some of this up again another time but not tonight.

"Well ... do you want to just kill some time together before getting your car from Santana's?" he asked instead.

Dave's head slowly lifted and he looked Kurt in the eye with an expression that Kurt couldn't quite pinpoint. Relief? Or perhaps more accurately just plan ol' exhaustion. He nodded and turned his head to look out the window again as Kurt turned on his right turn signal to veer off his straight path towards Santana's house.

"Did you have any place in mind for your own driving-around-time? Midnight snack, maybe?"

"Nah. I mean, if you're hungry or whatever, that's fine. But I'm not hungry."

Kurt stopped himself after he opened his mouth to snidely ask Karofsky if he had cut back from five Mickey Dee's runs a day to four. He permitted himself a moment to feel shame for almost reverting to their old pattern. Amazing how given just the smallest opening, Kurt allowed himself to think of Dave as Karofsky again but he was mostly relieved that he managed to the snark contained.

"So ..." Dave began uncertainly. "What was all that shit you were talking about forcing Blaine to come to prom?"

Kurt visibly cringed but didn't say anything right at first. He had felt bad (not a lot, but a little) letting Blaine's "history" slip in the heat of an argument in front of his dad and Finn. He had noticed it made Blaine uncomfortable but he was too angry to apologize for it at the time. And now Kurt had gone and brought it up in front of Dave too. Although, now that he thought about it, Blaine had no negative reactions to those allusions this time. In fact, he had smiled and practically thanked Kurt for giving him the chance to face his past. Granted, Blaine seemed so into the moment that he might have forgotten Dave was there and listening but still ... he would hope that Blaine could see this as an educational experience for Dave.

"You have to promise not to give Blaine a hard time about this," he started out simply. 

"Promise? Oh, come on!" Dave actually appeared insulted by the request.

"Don't you 'oh, come on!' me, David Karofsky. I want a promise that you'll be decent about this."

"So I don't make fun of Blaine for this or you'll what?"

"'Or I'll _what_?' David, no. This is not blackmail. I know this 'genuine friend' concept is new for you so I'll try to walk you through it. I am simply looking for a promise from you that when I give sensitive information about someone I care about, you will not use that information against him. The consequence of going back on your word isn't that I'll out you or physically hurt you or anything like that. The consequences are that you will have hurt me, someone who is trying to be a friend to you, and that I will be far less inclined to trust you in the future."

Dave seemed properly abashed but he didn't offer anything further.

"Dave, lecture over. Do I have your word?"

"Oh, yeah. I won't give him shit about it. I promise." Kurt nodded sharply and drummed his fingers against the wheel as he drove.

"I honestly don't know all the details," he began slowly. "Basically, before he transferred to Dalton, he asked another gay guy to a dance at his old school. They went and when they were waiting for a parent to pick them up after, they got jumped by a group of guys in the parking lot. I believe his words were that they _'beat the crap'_ out of the two of them."

"Jesus Christ," Dave answered in a low voice. He paused before continuing just as quietly. "So, he told you he didn't want to do prom and you talked him into it?"

"Essentially," Kurt responded flatly.

"Is that what Blaine would say if I asked him?"

"Well ... probably not. He'd likely say that he wanted to go to prom with me and that I gave him the courage to be able to go."

"Fucking perfect knight in shining armor," Dave muttered darkly.

"Uh?"

"Oh, nothing. You just sounded exactly like Pretty Boy when he's in full Pretty Boy mode." Kurt regarded him with a raised eyebrow but Dave ignored it. "The real point, though, is that you're pretty hard on yourself. Doesn't sound to me like you forced Blaine to do anything."

"Perhaps," Kurt said with a nod. "The real point _I_ was trying to make in telling you that was to give you an idea of what gay guys go through."

"Yeah, _out_ gay guys," Dave spat.

Hm, Kurt clearly hadn't thought this entire education thing through. Not exactly the story to convince someone to come out. He made a quick turn into a poorly lit parking lot of a real estate agent's office. Dave hardly seemed phased by the sudden change. If anything, he looked like a guy ready to face whatever terrible fate awaited him.

"Dave, you look like you've lost a bet and now I'm going to kill your puppy."

"I'm hoping whatever smack down you're about to give me won't be quite that bad."

"Smack down? Why would you think I'm going to give you a _smack down_?"

"For all the shit I gave you as an out gay guy ..."

Kurt actually laughed at that. "I have seriously forgiven you for that and I make an honest effort not to throw our past back in your face. So long as you don't do it again, to me or any other out gay guy, then you will be safe from smack downs."

"Oh, well. Why'd you pull over then?"

Kurt sighed as he turned towards Dave, not exactly sure what to say, much less how to start.

"You hardly know me, Dave," Kurt stated plainly, taking in Dave's confused expression. "And you know Blaine even less. Do you know any other out gay people?"

Dave just shook his head, looking at Kurt curiously.

"Alright, then. Would it also be fair to say that most of what you do know of us is that we've been bullied for who we are? But that you don't know much of anything about the good things in our lives?"

Dave broke eye contact at the mention of being bullied but still nodded along to the questions. He tapped his hand on left knee nervously.

"That's not because there isn't anything positive in our lives." Kurt reached over and placed his hand over Dave's twitching fingers, stilling them. Kurt watched as Dave's eyes slowly looked up from their hands and up to Kurt's calm expression. "Honestly and truly, Dave, we have a lot of wonderful things going in our lives. None of which we'd be able to appreciate if we couldn't be honest about who we are to ourselves, our friends, our family."

"But you've got like this support system already there!"

"Damn it, Dave!" Kurt yelled, whipping his hand back and away. "I didn't know they'd be there! I was scared to death to come out!"

"Then why the fuck are you pressuring me again?"

Kurt took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I'm not trying to pressure you. I'm just trying to help you see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel." Kurt opened his eyes again and looked directly into Dave's. "Yeah, coming out can be terrifying. But the pay if can really surprise you."

Dave looked unconvinced and he cut his eyes back towards the dashboard. Kurt softened but, despite his better judgment, he just couldn't let the subject drop.

"And if you're worried about not having that support system, then use mine. Align yourself with people who you know are gay friendly. Once you've done that, it'll be easier to take your chances to see how everyone else reacts."

Dave shrugged a shoulder but Kurt was pleased to see that he didn't look completely pissed. He pulled out his phone to check the time. 1:40. A little early yet but they were both tired. Maybe Dave would actually go straight home instead of driving around dead on his feet.

"If I took you back to your car right now, what would you do?"

Dave hiccupped a laugh and Kurt wondered if he had been close to crying. His voice, though, was even if not a little rough when he spoke. "I don't care what fucking time it is. I'd drive straight home."

"Oh thank god," Kurt said, perhaps too quickly and missing the slightly hurt expression on Dave's face as he turned to the car back on and put it in reverse. "Because I was going to take you back to your car no matter what you said. Now I don't have to worry about you falling asleep at the wheel while you kill some time."

"So what happens Monday?" Dave's voice sounded more vulnerable than it had all night as Kurt backed out of the parking spot and pulled back onto the street. For his part, Kurt couldn't understand why Dave was going back to a subject he said he wanted to drop.

"Well, I thought you decided you'd figure that out-"

"No, Fancy, I mean us. How are we going to treat each other at school?"

Kurt paused and didn't even chance a look in Dave's direction. "What do you want?"

Dave let out a shuddering breath. "I don't know. I know I'm not ready to come out."

"And being my friend in public means you must be gay," Kurt stated with a nod. Dave didn't even try to argue with him. "Well, I don't see any reason why we have to do things much differently than we have been. We're civil to each other. Respectful. I'll be really busy with Nations coming up and then we'll both have exams. We'll just..."

"Exist," Dave provided emotionlessly. 

"Yeah. You have my number from Bully Whip rounds, though, if you want to talk. And I can text you Blaine's number too."

Dave looked like he was about to argue but instead he just said, "Yeah, thanks."

The two were quiet for the rest of the drive until Kurt stopped across from Santana's house. Dave looked at his Honda parked on the street but made no move to get out. Kurt was about to ask him what was wrong when Dave suddenly spoke up.

"You know, you still bug the shit out of me sometimes, Hummel." Kurt would have been pissed if he didn't see the slight smile when he turned to Dave. Instead, he gave a half-hearted sound of annoyance but otherwise let Dave continue. "But you, and Blaine, tonight you guys were ..."

Kurt felt like he was holding his breath waiting for Dave to finish that sentence. It was like in one moment, Dave had the power to validate or completely shit upon everything they'd been through. And Dave just sat there, struggling to find the words. Kurt could hardly take it anymore.

"Dave, if the next word out of your mouth is 'perfect,' so help me…"

Dave laughed and Kurt felt the tension release from both of them. "Nah, Kurt. I was going to say wonderful. Tonight, you were just ... wonderful."

Dave looked at Kurt with an intensity that Kurt was just starting to get comfortable with but that still could be a little intimidating. Especially when he then reached over to Kurt's hand resting between them. Kurt startled at the touch but the gentle, lingering squeeze was even more shocking. It was oddly intimate but not uncomfortably so. Kurt just offered a smile in return and before he knew it, Dave had the door open and was stepping out of the car.

"Goodnight, Dave," Kurt called softly through Dave's window as he shut the door behind him. Dave just gave a little wave and headed over to his own car.

Kurt pulled out his cell again and quickly composed a message while Dave got in his car, first punching in one of the few phone numbers he actually knew by heart.

_Drive safe and text me when you get home. And feel free to call Blaine anytime I'm bugging the shit out of you._

Kurt watched Dave read the text with a smile. He gave another wave as he pulled away from the curb, Kurt mirroring his actions on the other side of the street. As soon as he got out of Santana's neighborhood, he clicked his number 3 speed dial and was greeted to his boyfriend's quiet "Hey."

"Hey."

"You home?"

"Just dropped Dave off and I'm on my way now."

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's good. Will you ... sing something for me?"

"Any requests?"

"No, not this time."

Blaine was silent for a good thirty seconds before he slowly and quietly began singing a song they'd already heard that night.

_It's late in the evening; she's wondering what clothes to wear._  
She puts on her make-up and brushes her long blonde hair.  
And then she asks me, 'Do I look alright?'  
And I say, 'Yes, you look wonderful tonight.' 


End file.
